Lupine Sophrosyne
by ThunderClouds7
Summary: Kris was flung out of Werewolf society just as fast as he was flung in. When he has nearly lost himself, a series of events lead him to the company of a certain bright Chinese boy. As he begins picking himself up and putting his pieces back together, he creates a mottled bunch of family. Now it's his job to lead them.


_dérive (French)- an aimless walk through the city streets_

Chapter 1

Kris POV

Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage was all Kris felt as he wandered the cold city streets. It had been raining for several days, and everything was dreary and wet. Kris couldn't care less if he got sick from his sopping wet fur and sleeping in alleys. It would be a relief for him, to not feel the tattered remains of the strong bonds he had formed and nurtured for the past 4 years. Shattered, ripped, destroyed. That was all that was felt in the place of those golden ropes of joy and acceptance. The absence of them, along with the grief, had inspirired his horrendous red rage that consumed him upon their destruction. Left to wander the city streets alone, he was directionless.

Besides snacking on the occasional abandoned hamburger when forceful hunger imposed on his rage, he ignored the basic need for food. Such an obnoxious reminder of him being alive. Logically, he knew he couldn't stay like this, and that eventually the pain was going to dull, but every time he thought he there was a relent in the angst, something would remind him and he would relapse in a second. It was the glimpse of a handsome laugh,or a raucous gaggle of teenagers, energetic and teasing. Reminding him of when he thought his joy would be eternal.

The only thing that changed was the morphing of his original pain and anger into twisted rage and a consuming desire for vengance. This is where he hit a dead end though, for there was no direct culprit of their death. It was an accident, a simple error and momentary loss of focus that changed his world. He was stuck with nowhere to go, and no purpose to his fury.

_Wait. Am I in heaven?_

_The smell. It smells like-_

_Meat._

Suddenly, he had been hit by the most delicious wafting sent of meat. Steak, Bacon, Fried Chicken, and innumerable other carnivorous delicacies. Sniffing again, he looked around the quiet street. _There. _The smell wafting from the shop on the corner was enought to momentarily breack his self-absorbed monologue. 'AA Meats' was a small corner store, local and probably family owned. It combined a butcher shop with a rib and meat restaurant. The smell was drenching to his powerful dog nose, even with the constant rain. Peering in the low display window, he could see every possible kind of meat, raw or cooked, on display. Hot dogs, bratwurst, Beef, Lamb, Pork, Rotisserie Chicken, and even large Salmon fillets. Literally any meat-lovers paradise. The restaurant was packed. More people were running in and out, picking up cuts to take home. Jealous, he glowered at the lively shop on the corner. The effect of his starvation these past few weeks struck Kris violently, and he knew he had to eat some of it. _Now._

"Maybe I can raid the dumpster..." It wasn't quite the same as the freshly grilled steak, but it would suffice. Humans threw out mor good food than bad. Stuck without any money, shifting into human form would be useless and remove all protection he had against the cold rain.

He made his way to a narrow break between two buildings and layed down to wait until closing.

"Hey boss, can I leave early? I still need to cram for that final tomorrow."

"Yeah Hoik, thats fine. Jinhong can wipe those tables. Good luck kid!" Woosang replied from behind the counter. It had been a long, busy day and they were all tired, but very pleased with the roaring success of their shop. They were new in town, and the explosion of popularity had caught them by surprise.

Walking back through the kitchen to the cold storage room, Woosang found Aoora and Kimchi lazily taking stock. _These damn kids if i werent so strapped for employees they'd be gone in a second._ Deep inside though, he knew he would never fire him. They were his best friends, even if they're only skill was serving customers.

"Come on guys! Hurry up! Hoik left early, so you are going to have to pick up a little slack here! Aoora, why don't you take out the trash? Surely you can manage that without hurting yourself or taking half an hour. Jinhong, can you finish wiping the tables? I'll finish taking stock." He shooed the two away.

"Chill out hyung, there's no rush. I'm on it." Aoora replied. Gathering the bags from the various trash cans, he heaved the large black bags out of the back door.

The dark alley was more of a narrow driveway, just barely wide enough to allow access to the dumpster. Aoora wrinkled his nose and turned back away from the smelly bin. He began to head towards the warm light of the door when he heard a low noise_. _

_Grrrrrrr_.

_What the fuck?_ Looking towards the source of the sound, he saw a pack of three dogs stalking down the alley. Towards him. _Shit._ Glancing between the door and the dogs, he became much more afraid when he realized there wasn't time to make it to the door before the dogs.

"Woosang! Hyung! Help! Get me out of here before they eat me! Call Animal Control or something, quick!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

They were an ugly bunch of mutts. The bigger one in the middle was obviously the leader, while the one on its left looked like a bizarre Pomeranian mix and the one on its right was distinctly Bulldog-like. Cursing under his breath, Aoora backed up to side of the building and prayed that Woosang would act fast.

"What the hell? Shit Aoora, how do you always manage to get in some kind of trouble?" Appearing in the doorway, Woosang already had his cell phone, dialing Animal Control.

"I don't know! I don't exactly ask for this you know." He called back to Woosang.

Suddenly, they heard an even louder, and much more menacing growl from the side of the dumpster. Emerging from the dark corner between the far side of the dumpster and the wall, a massive canine appeared. It was lean and dirty, with limp tan fur and piercing eyes. Stalking forward, it moved to stand between the pack and Aoora. The leader of the pack paused, before returning the snarl and continuing forwards, this time towards the other dog.

Glancing between the three dogs, Kris decided the main threat would be the leader. Distracted by it, he was thrown of balance when the one on the left lunged for him. Kris was bigger, and fast enough to snake around and grab it by the scruff. Tearing it from its hold on him, he flung it off to the side and heard a _thunk _when it hit the wall. The other two, however, had moved in as soon as the smaller made its move. Occupied by the Pomeranian, Kris' side was open to attack. The second small dog lunged for his shoulder and sunk its powerful jaws into the muscle and whipped its head back and forth. Jumping back, Kris turned to it and whacked it with a large paw, biting at its ears and muzzle at the same time. This dog was smarter than the first one, and quickly let go and retreated to the side of the leader.

Backing up as the two regrouped, he noticed them spreading out, each aiming to get on either side of him. He knew he was a much better fighter than those two, but he was weak and starving. They had obviously been living off the bountiful scraps from the shop for several weeks, and were unfairly robust for a couple of strays. Looking between the two of them, he decided to concentrate on taking out the larger one. Leaping to where it was on the side, he used his larger size to his advantage and shoved it to the ground, grabbing its throat. Suddenly, he felt a deep pain along his side, where the other dog had dug its claws and teeth into him. Shoving the leader away with his shoulder he turned away and attacked the smaller. The leader quickly recovered, however, and was suddenly upon Kris' back, shredding his sides with his claws and teeth. Stumbling under the weight, he writhed, trying to throw one of them off balance. And then- they were gone. The weight left his back, and the dog on his side was pulled away.

Turning, he saw the two being held by a man in a uniform, while another cautiously approached Kris. Thinking quickly, Kris hunkered down and adopted a non-threatening, submissive posture. There was no way he could run with these injuries, and if he did he would just end up near death in another alley. He was collared and put in a cage inside their truck.

_You've really done it this time Kris. Congratulation, you're fucked._ He thought to himself through the haze of pain. He had no back up plan, no friends or family to bail him out.


End file.
